Processes such as wearing, washing, rinsing and/or tumble-drying of fabrics, e.g., clothing, bedding, household fabrics like table linens, are a normal part of the consumer's use of fabrics. However, Applicants have determined that such processes produce a loss of fabric appearance, that is at least partly in the color fidelity and definition of the fabrics.
The problem has been found exacerbated at the location of the stress points such as seams and zippers but also influenced by the overall characteristics of the fabric, e.g., dye type, weave, thread count, fiber type, etc., and the composition of the laundry load, e.g., size, weight, color, and number of items. This problem has also been found further exacerbated after multiple washing cycles.
Fabric softener compositions are known in the art for imparting benefits such as softness and/or antistatic properties and/or freshness impression, to the rinsed and/or dried fabric, as generally described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,895 page 1 lines 19 to 32. Although dryer added fabric softener articles comprising compositions containing primarily di(hydrogentatedtallowalkyl)dimethylammonium methyl sulfate have been in use for many years, the Applicants have now surprisingly found that the use of such a dryer-added fabric softening composition comprising a fabric softener component can ameliorate the problem of appearance loss, e.g., fuzziness and/or discoloration of the fabric.
An advantage of the invention is therefore to provide fabrics with effective color fidelity and definition. Such advantage is also seen to be greatly enhanced after multiple washing cycles.
Not to be bound by theory, it is believed that by delivering the softener component in the drying cycle, the loss in the fabric appearance such as the fabric discoloration is either mitigated in the drying cycle or inhibited or reduced in the next wash cycle. It is possible to even recover fabric appearance, that is, restore color fidelity.